Before the Worst
by jet'aime519
Summary: "He stares after her everyday as she leaves school, with her long confident steps, her dark brown braid swinging. And he can't help but think to himself that he's never had the courage to do more than watch her walk away."-Set before the Games, told alternating between Katniss and Peeta's perspectives. Minor change from the HG @ the end. My first Fanfic. R&R please!


He's positive that the pain he felt that awful day in the rain is never going to be surpassed in his lifetime. Sure, it hurt when the end of his mother's rolling pin collided with the side of his face, but the worst part, the saddest moment in his entire life, was seeing Katniss, the girl he had loved for the better part of his existence, sitting there in the pouring rain, ready to give up. He's positive, in that instant, that if he doesn't do anything, she'll shrivel up and die right there in front of him. The thought alone shakes him to the core. And that night, lying awake in his room, unable to sleep, all he can think is he should've done more than toss her a few loaves of burnt bread.

Katniss notices him more often than she'd like. They've never talked officially, but ever since that rainy day, she catches herself keeping tabs on him. It's weird, how much she knows about "the Boy with the Bread" as she's come to know him as. How he came in second in the school wrestling tournament, losing only to his older brother. How he can lift 100-pound bags of flour with ease. How his paintings are always the ones displayed outside the art classroom. How bright his smile is, lighting up his entire face, always so happy and full of life.

Peeta stares after her everyday as she leaves school, with her long confident steps, her dark brown braid swinging. And he can't help but think to himself that he's never had the courage to do more than watch her walk away.

Katniss can feel his eyes on her back in History, the only class they have together. Occasionally, she casts a cautious glance towards him, her grey eyes meeting his turquoise ones. Each time, without fail, his eyes immediately dart elsewhere, a rosy blush tinting his otherwise fair cheeks. Out of all the people in the world, she thinks he confuses her the most.

Katniss catches him starring often, but somehow, he can't bring himself to stop. He knows she probably thinks he's some sort of stalker by now. Which, he thinks sheepishly to himself, he sort of is.

She must be going crazy, because about three weeks before the reaping, she thinks she sees him outside her house, standing a good 25 yards from her front door, his golden hair standing out in stark contrast to the otherwise gray and coal-dust covered Seam. She looks back a second later and he's gone, or more likely, she thinks to herself, he wasn't ever there in the first place. She shakes her head, lamenting her new-found insanity and returns to the rabbit she's skinning.

After 11 long years, of careful watching and daydreaming, Peeta decides that it's high time he face his stupid fears and just talk to her. He spends weeks preparing for the big day, mentally practicing what he's going to say, even icing the letter "K" on a beautiful flower-shaped cookie he plans to give her. On the day he's picked, Peeta walks to her house directly after school, wiping his sweaty palms on the sides of his pants, and repeating to himself over and over again; _she's just a girl, Mellark, just a girl. _He's halfway there when he realizes he forgot to bring the cookie. _Oh well_ he thinks, _I'm doing this, baked goods or not. _He's actually pretty close to her front porch when she looks up and sees him, grey eyes confused, dark eyebrows arching. But instead of looking scared to Peeta, she looks alert, ready to pounce like the hunter she is. _Oh god_, he thinks, _what if she really does see me as one of those stalker/serial killer types? One pull of her arrow and I'm—_he doesn't let himself finish the thought, sprinting away so fast he thinks he may have broken the school record in the 100 meter dash. It isn't until he's reached town and the bakery, completely "safe," that he realizes how ridiculous he is.

When her sister's name is called at the reaping of the 74th annual Hunger Games, her heart drops to her stomach. Without a moment's hesitation, Katniss is up and screaming "I volunteer!," vowing to save the only person in this world whom she knows she loves.

Upon hearing the words "Primrose Everdeen" tumble out of Effie Trinket's mouth, all that goes through Peeta's mind is a string of curse words he knows his mother would smack him silly for just saying a fourth of. He knows what's happening next, but that doesn't ease the awful feeling in his heart that manifests when Katniss volunteers to take Prim's place a few seconds later.

Katniss hears Effie say "Peeta Mellark" after picking from the boys' bowl, but thinks she must be hearing things after the events of the last minute and a half. Because she knows the world they live in is cruel, but it wouldn't be so awful as to reap both Prim _and _the Boy with the Bread, would it?

He realizes how messed up he is when, moments later, shaking hands with Katniss, all he can think about is how the sky-blue fabric of her dress brings out her smoky-gray eyes and how the braids of her elaborate just-for-the-reaping hairdo frame her face perfectly. Here they are, being sentenced to their deaths, and his entire focus is on her beauty. He's officially gone completely insane over her.

It doesn't fully sink in that Peeta's been reaped until he's up there on the stage, shaking her hand. Unlike her hands, which she's sure must be sweaty and shaky despite her calm semblance, his are warm and steady, as if he's already trying to reassure her. She drinks him in, really looks at him up close for the first time. She takes in the ashy blonde hair that falls over his forehead, the long eyelashes that frame his sky-blue eyes, and the tiny scar under his right eye that she would've mistaken as a mole or a birthmark if she hadn't known better. But she's sure he got that mark in the beating he took from his witch of a mother after he saved her life on that stormy day so many years ago. And in that instant, she realizes she's doomed, that she's not coming back to District 12. Because there's no way she can hurt the Boy with the Bread.


End file.
